Isaiah 30
Legacy Standard Bible
Alliance with Egypt Condemned
30 “Woe to the (A)rebellious children,” declares Yahweh,
“Who (B)execute counsel, but not Mine,
And [a](C)make an alliance, but not of My Spirit,
In order to add sin to sin,
2 Who (D)go down to Egypt—
But did not (E)ask [b]Me—
(F)To find strength in the strong defense of Pharaoh
And to take refuge in the shadow of Egypt!
3 Therefore the strong defense of Pharaoh will be (G)your shame
And the refuge in the shadow of Egypt, your dishonor.
4 For (H)their princes are at Zoan
And their messengers reach Hanes.
5 Everyone will be (I)ashamed because of a people who cannot profit them,
Who are (J)not for help or profit, but for shame and also for reproach.”
6 The [c]oracle concerning the (K)beasts of the (L)Negev.
Through a land of (M)distress and anguish,
From [d]where come lioness and lion, viper and (N)flying fiery serpent,
They (O)carry their wealth on the [e]backs of young donkeys
And their treasures on (P)camels’ humps,
To a people who cannot profit them;
7 Even Egypt, whose (Q)help is vain and empty.
Therefore, I have called [f]her
“[g](R)Rahab who has ceased.”
8 Now go, (S)write it on a tablet before them
And inscribe it on a scroll,
That it may be in the time to come
[h]As a witness forever.
9 For this is a (T)rebellious people, (U)false sons,
Sons who are not willing to (V)listen
To the law of Yahweh,
10 Who say to the (W)seers, “You must not see,”
And to those who have visions, “You must not (X)behold visions for us of what is right,
(Y)Speak to us [i]pleasant words,
Behold visions of illusions.
11 Get out of the way, (Z)turn aside from the path,
[j](AA)Cease speaking before us about the Holy One of Israel.”
12 Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel,
“(AB)Since you have rejected this word
And have put your trust in (AC)oppression and deviousness and have relied on them,
13 Therefore this (AD)iniquity will be to you
Like a (AE)breach about to fall,
A bulge in a high wall,
Whose breaking comes (AF)suddenly in an instant,
14 Whose breaking is like the breaking of a (AG)potter’s jar,
[k]So ruthlessly shattered
That a potsherd will not be found among its pieces
To [l]take fire from a hearth
Or to scoop water from a cistern.”
15 For thus Lord Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, has said,
“In [m]repentance and (AH)rest you will be saved,
In (AI)quietness and trust is your might.”
But you were not willing,
16 And you said, “No, for we will flee on (AJ)horses,”
Therefore you shall flee!
“And we will ride on swift horses,”
Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift.
17 (AK)One thousand will flee at the threat of one man;
You will flee at the threat of five,
Until you are left as a [n]flag on a mountain top
And as a [o]standard on a hill.
Yahweh Is Gracious and Just
18 Therefore Yahweh (AL)waits with longing to be gracious to you,
And therefore He is on (AM)high to have compassion on you.
For Yahweh is a (AN)God of justice;
How blessed are all those who (AO)wait for Him.
19 [p]O people in Zion, (AP)inhabitant in Jerusalem, you will (AQ)weep no longer. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will (AR)answer you. 20 The Lord has given you (AS)bread of distress and water of oppression; He, your Teacher will no longer (AT)hide Himself, but your eyes will see your Teacher. 21 And your ears will hear a word behind you, “[q]This is the (AU)way, walk in it,” whenever you (AV)turn to the right or to the left. 22 And you will defile your graven (AW)images overlaid with your silver, and your molten (AX)images plated with your gold. You will scatter them as an impure thing and say to [r]them, “(AY)Be gone!”
23 Then He will (AZ)give you rain for [s]the seed which you will sow in the ground, and bread from the produce of the ground, and it will be [t]rich and fat; on that day (BA)your livestock will graze in a roomy pasture. 24 Also the oxen and the donkeys which work the ground will eat salted fodder, which [u]has been (BB)winnowed with shovel and fork. 25 And it will be that on every lofty mountain and on (BC)every lifted up hill there will be [v]streams running with water on the day of the great (BD)slaughter, when the towers fall. 26 (BE)And the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days, on the day (BF)Yahweh binds up the (BG)fracture of His people and (BH)heals the bruise [w]He has inflicted.
27 Behold, (BI)the name of Yahweh comes from afar;
(BJ)Burning is His anger and heavy is His [x]smoke;
His lips are filled with (BK)indignation
And His tongue is like a (BL)consuming fire;
28 His (BM)breath is like an overflowing torrent,
Which (BN)reaches to the neck,
To (BO)shake the nations back and forth in a [y]sieve of worthlessness,
And to put in the jaws of the peoples (BP)the bridle which staggers one to ruin.
29 You will have [z]songs as in the night when you set yourself apart as holy for the festival,
And gladness of heart as when one marches to the sound of the flute,
To go to the mountain of Yahweh, to the Rock of Israel.
30 And Yahweh will cause [aa]His splendid voice to be heard,
And the [ab]descending of His arm to be seen in raging anger,
And in the flame of a consuming fire
In cloudburst, downpour, and hailstones.
31 For (BQ)at the voice of Yahweh (BR)Assyria will be dismayed,
When He strikes with the (BS)rod.
32 And every [ac]blow of the [ad](BT)appointed staff,
Which Yahweh will cause to rest upon him,
Will be with the music of (BU)tambourines and lyres;
And in battles, (BV)waving weapons He will fight them.
33 For [ae](BW)Topheth has long been ready,
Indeed, it has been prepared for the king.
He has made it deep and large,
[af]A pyre of fire with plenty of wood;
The (BX)breath of Yahweh, like a torrent of (BY)brimstone, sets it afire.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 30:1 Lit pour out a drink offering
- Isaiah 30:2 Lit My mouth
- Isaiah 30:6 Or burden of
- Isaiah 30:6 Lit them
- Isaiah 30:6 Lit shoulders
- Isaiah 30:7 Lit this one
- Isaiah 30:7 M.T. They are Rahab (or arrogance), to sit still
- Isaiah 30:8 As in the versions; Heb Forever and ever
- Isaiah 30:10 Lit smooth things
- Isaiah 30:11 Lit Cause to cease from our presence
- Isaiah 30:14 Lit Crushed, it will not be spared
- Isaiah 30:14 Lit snatch up
- Isaiah 30:15 Lit returning
- Isaiah 30:17 Lit pole
- Isaiah 30:17 Or signal
- Isaiah 30:19 M.T. A people will inhabit Zion, Jerusalem
- Isaiah 30:21 Lit saying, “This
- Isaiah 30:22 Lit it, “Go out”
- Isaiah 30:23 Lit your
- Isaiah 30:23 Lit fatness
- Isaiah 30:24 Lit one winnows
- Isaiah 30:25 Lit canals, streams of water
- Isaiah 30:26 Lit of His blow
- Isaiah 30:27 Lit uplifting
- Isaiah 30:28 Lit sifting of the worthless
- Isaiah 30:29 Lit the song
- Isaiah 30:30 Lit the majesty of His voice
- Isaiah 30:30 Lit descent
- Isaiah 30:32 Lit passing
- Isaiah 30:32 Lit staff of foundation
- Isaiah 30:33 The place of human sacrifice to Molech
- Isaiah 30:33 Lit Its pile
Isaiah 30
Evangelical Heritage Version
A Useless Treaty With Egypt
30
Woe to this rebellious people, says the Lord.
They take advice, but not from me.
They establish an alliance, but not by my Spirit.
Then they sin more and more.
2 Woe to those who go down to Egypt, without consulting me.
They seek Pharaoh’s protection,
and they take refuge in the shade of Egypt!
3 So Pharaoh’s protection will bring you shame.
Taking refuge in the shade of Egypt will be your downfall.
4 Even though Israel’s officials are in Zoan,
and their envoys have gone as far as Hanes,
5 they will all be humiliated
because of a people that is useless to them.
They can neither help nor provide any benefit.
They bring only shame and reproach.
Judah’s Envoys Take Tribute to Egypt
6 An oracle about the animals of the Negev.
Through the land of trouble and distress,
the land of the lioness and the lion,
of the viper and the venomous flying serpent,
Judah’s envoys carry their wealth on the backs of donkeys
and their treasures on camels’ humps,
to a nation that cannot help them.
7 For Egypt’s help is useless and serves no purpose.
That is why I have called her “the dragon that just sits there.”[a]
8 Go and write it on a tablet for them.
Record it on a scroll,
so that in the future it may serve as a permanent witness.
9 These are a rebellious people, lying children,
children unwilling to hear the law of the Lord,
10 who tell the seers, “Stop seeing!”
who tell the prophets, “Stop prophesying what is right!
Tell us pleasant things. Prophesy illusions.
11 Leave the way! Turn from the path!
Stop getting in our face about the Holy One of Israel!”
12 This is what the Holy One of Israel says:
Since you have rejected my word,
and you trust in oppression and deceit,
and you rely on them,
13 your guilt will be like a crack in a wall,
bulging out and about to collapse.
It will suddenly fall without warning.
14 It will crash like a broken clay pot,
smashed to pieces so violently that not one useful piece will be left,
not even a piece good enough to pick up a coal from the hearth
or to ladle water from a cistern.
15 This is what the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, says:
If you repent and wait quietly, you will be saved.
Your strength will depend on quietness and trust.
But you refused.
16 You said, “No, we will flee on horseback!”
Yes indeed, you will flee.
You said, “We will ride away swiftly!”
Yes indeed, you will be pursued swiftly.
17 A thousand will flee when just one threatens.
When five threaten, you will flee,
until you are like a single flag, fluttering on a mountaintop,
like a lonely banner on a hill.
18 But the Lord is eager to be gracious to you.
He waits on high to have mercy on you,
for the Lord is a God of justice.
Blessed are all those who long for him.
19 So people will live in Zion. In Jerusalem you will weep no more. The Lord will be very gracious to you when he hears your cry. When he hears you, he will answer you. 20 Though the Lord has given you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, he is your teacher.[b] He will not be hidden any longer. You will see your teacher with your own eyes. 21 Whenever you are tempted to turn to the right or to the left, you will hear his voice behind you, saying, “This is the way. Walk in it.” 22 You will defile your idols that are plated with silver and your images overlaid with gold. You will throw them away like a filthy cloth,[c] saying, “Get away from me!”
23 Then he will give you rain so that you can sow seed in the ground. The bread from your land’s harvest will be excellent and plentiful. On that day your livestock will graze in wide pastures. 24 The oxen and the donkeys that work the ground will eat the best feed[d]—winnowed with a shovel and a winnowing fork. 25 On every lofty mountain and on every high hill there will be streams flowing with water.
It will be a day of terrible slaughter, when towers fall. 26 The light of the moon will be as bright as the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter—like the light of seven days—on the day when the Lord will bind up the wounds of his people and heal the injuries he inflicted.
God Will Punish Assyria
27 Look! The name of the Lord is coming from far away,
burning with anger, in a column of thick smoke.
His lips are full of anger,
and his tongue is a consuming fire.
28 His breath is a stream at flood stage,
surging all the way up to your neck.
He shakes the nations in a sieve to destroy them,
and he puts a bridle in their mouths to lead them to destruction.
29 You will sing as you do on the night of a holy festival,
with glad hearts,
as when they go up with flutes to the mountain of the Lord,
to the Rock of Israel.
30 The Lord will cause the majestic splendor of his voice to be heard.
He will make them see his arm come crashing down in fierce anger,
like the flames of a consuming fire,
like driving rain, a furious storm with hailstones.
31 The voice of the Lord will terrify Assyria.
He will strike it with his rod.
32 Every stroke of the punishing rod[e] which the Lord will lay on them
will be accompanied by the music of drums and lyres.
He himself will fight, battling them, swinging weapons.
33 Topheth has long been made ready.
It is prepared for the king,
a flaming funeral pyre, deep and wide, with plenty of wood.
The breath of the Lord, like a river of liquid fire, sets it ablaze.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 30:7 Literally Rahab who sits still. Rahab was the name of a dragon-like sea monster or river monster. See Job 26:12; Psalm 89:9-10.
- Isaiah 30:20 The Hebrew reads teachers, perhaps referring to the prophets, but the singular he occurs throughout verses 20-26.
- Isaiah 30:22 The Hebrew words refer to a cloth stained with menstrual blood. Blood made a person who contacted it ceremonially unclean.
- Isaiah 30:24 Or seasoned feed
- Isaiah 30:32 Or the appointed rod
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